Restoring a Real Classic Cadillac

Over at Jalopnik, they’ve decided that it’s time to feature an older Cadillac Eldorado convertible.
But, it’s so tepid.
Just a box stock white ’76.
So, middle-aged country club.

A little more imagination is called for: “Rolling Charisma.”

Featured at DeluxoPerformo.com, the car is the full ticket, deluxe, maxed-out Superfly Eldorado.

With a story.

(more after the jump)

For those not familiar with the genre, this is a type of custom which was known, in its day, as a “pimpmobile.”
(The “Superfly” nomenclature comes from a movie of the same name, in which such vehicles and the lifestyle they reflected were the main theme.)

Excess was the core of the concept, so the Eldorado was the natural canvas upon which the balance of the art was to be created.
In the mid-’70’s, few cars were as excessive, sitting on the showroom floor, as a Cadillac Eldorado.
It was a “personal luxury car” powered by the biggest V-8 put into a car since the classic era of the 1930’s: 572 smog-equipment choked cubic inches.

The fad for the pimpmobile disappeared as rapidly as it appeared, the movies having made the concept a caricature of itself – as illustrated by the James Bond film, Live and Let Die.

When it did, these cars became unloved.
They were not the vehicles collectors sought to preserve.

But one person, at least, has come to appreciate the art form, as one might, perhaps, appreciate a Picasso or Dali before the rest of the world came to view the creator as an artist.

That person is Mr. Tom Tindra and the story begins with a “wasted” Eldo on eBay.
The car was in sad shape, having been left outside with the power windows down for a number of years.
Of all places, it was in Nebraska, so you can imagine what the elements had done in the almost ten years it had been sitting outside.
Tom bid on the car, but lost the auction.

A month later, though, the winner offered to sell him the car.
The car was beyond hope, but the custom parts on the car were irreplaceable.
Tom carefully stripped the car of all of these unique add-ons, having them restored and rechromed as necessary.

Then he located another ’72 Eldo, this one a California car in creampuff condition, and melded the car and the parts.